ombra

Forms

ombra f (plural ombres)^[1] The DCVB records /ómbɾə/, /ómbɾa/, /ómbɾɛ/ and /ɔ́mbɾɛ/, and Coromines notes an open /ɔ/ in some places of Western Catalan.^[2][3] Wiktionary gives /ˈum.bɾə/ for Northern Catalan.^[1] Old texts also write umbra.^[3] The Castilianism sombra has spread in some areas: in Barcelona both forms are heard, and in Valencia it has advanced much, probably from the 19th century, although isolated examples appear in 15th-century texts such as Vicent Ferrer's sermons.^[3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan ombra, which is inherited from Latin umbra (“shadow, shade”), a word continued in all the Romance languages.^{[3][2][4][5][1]} The same Latin word is Italian ombra, French ombre, Occitan ombra and Romanian umbră; beside them stand Spanish sombra and Portuguese sombra.^[1] Coromines thinks the form with /s/ probably occurred now and then in Catalan too, without becoming general as in Castilian and Portuguese.^[3]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain: de Vaan reports the usual comparison with Lithuanian ùnksna (“shade”), which requires an unusual consonant cluster, and finds no convincing root for it.^[6] Wiktionary also gives an alternative, from an Old Latin *omra, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *h₂mr-u-.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines finds the word in the first literary texts, Llull and others, well documented in its basic sense and in transferred ones: in Blanquerna a damsel lies down to rest under a tree and falls asleep in its shade.^[3] The earliest text in CICA with the word is the Furs de València.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Muntaner uses per ombres for shady places, and Jafuda Bonsenyor calls a king ombra de Déu en la terra “the shadow of God on earth”.^[3] A text of the 14th century speaks of the shades of the dead, and Faraudo has the word for a ghost or spirit in Vicent Ferrer and in the Corbatxo of 1397.^[3][8] The sense “protection” is in a document of 1333 from Santa Coloma de Queralt, sots nostra ombra “under our protection”, and in Isabel de Villena;^[3] Faraudo also has “pretext”.^[8][3]

As a term of painting the word is recorded in 1696, together with fer ombra a algú “to overshadow someone's merits”.^[3] The derivatives aombrar and ombrar are medieval, ombratge is recorded in 1474 and ombradís in 1575.^[4]

Timeline

• 13th century – first records, in Llull's Blanquerna and in the Furs de València (1261–1271).^[3][7]
• 1333 – sots nostra ombra “under our protection”, at Santa Coloma de Queralt.^[8]
• 1380 – Antoni Genebreda's translation of Boethius: birds that flee a les ombres dels arbres “to the shade of the trees”.^[8]
• 1397 – the Corbatxo uses the word for a ghost.^[8]
• 1474 – the derivative ombratge.^[4]
• 1696 – a term of painting.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. shade: relative darkness caused by the blocking of light: Seiem a l'ombra del garrofer.^[9][5][1]
2. shadow: the dark shape a body casts on a surface: La seva ombra es dibuixava a la paret.^[9][5][1]
3. (physics, astronomy) A region that light or other waves cannot reach because a body is in the way; the umbra of an eclipse.^[9][5][1]
4. Darkness, the absence of light.^[5][2]
5. (figurative) A faint or vain semblance: No en queda ni l'ombra.^[5]
6. A ghost, the spirit of a dead person.^[5][8][1]
7. (figurative) protection.^[5][8]
8. (art) The darkened part of a painting, drawing or engraving.^[5][2]

Word family

• aombrar
• ombrada
• ombradís
• ombrar
• ombratge
• ombrejar
• ombria
• ombriu
• ombrívol
• ombrós

Related words

• penombra
• umbràtic
• sombra
• Latin umbra
• Italian ombra

Usage notes

Coromines records the Mallorcan tenir bona ombra “to enjoy someone's protection, to have influential friends” and tenir bona or mala ombra “to be a good or a bad omen”.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. ombra
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 6, 58
4. ^ a b c Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 652
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. ombra
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. umbra
7. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. ombra
8. ^ a b c d e f g Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. ombra
9. ^ a b c Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. ombra